There were a group of archers here as well, practicing their skills. I briefly wondered if I could ask to practice myself, but dismissed it. They were likely part of the military, or… I suppose the councillors’ private armies. In either case, they wouldn’t look upon the request fondly I should think.

[Especially considering their views towards the irregulars themselves.] Page observed. [More than likely it would not be a polite response. Do you suppose the previous work they gave us was meant to be busywork? They certainly didn’t seem to trust us enough to do the job properly.]

I sat down and leaned up against a tree, cupping my chin. It’s not exactly out of the question, but I would have expected them to at least have said it to my face. And considering that Cale went all this way to bring me here… I cocked my head. Do you think it was just a ruse to bring me over to their capital? I thought. Cale didn’t strike me as the type of person who would be able to think on his feet that well, and the threat on his life certainly seemed real enough…

[I do not believe so…] Page replied. [Though I am not well versed in human psychology.]

Neither am I… I shrugged. It doesn’t matter, they haven’t shown overt hostility or any reason for me to be concerned. A few children were staring at me, pointing and dragging at their parent’s clothing. They ushered the children along, pulling them away from me. Heh, quite the differing response, I wonder if it’s some kind of education that we’re all assholes.

I stood, rolling my shoulders, I didn’t exactly feel welcome here, may was well head back before something happened. The merchants and similar at least didn’t seem to begrudge me, money talks? As I was thinking this I found myself stopped by a group of soldiers. Their armour showed signs of old battles, but was otherwise well maintained. No recent use I guess.

“What are you doing here?” One of them asked. “If you’re looking for a job, look elsewhere, we don’t need any of the irregulars around. You people are bad luck.” He said.

“Unfortunately my partner hails from here.” I answered. “He came back to see family, so we’ll be out of here as soon as he’s satisfied on that front.” I shrugged. “Besides, I’m not looking for work, and it’s my understanding that my work improves people’s situations, not the other way around.”

Some of the men sneered, and I started counting my exits. If a fight breaks out, it’s a certainty that I will be implicated if I win, and losing is not an option… The only good thing here is that I’m not surrounded… The man scowled. “That’s certainly how it seems.” He said. “Tell your friend to hurry up, if I see you still here in a week we’re going to have a problem.” I bit my tongue, nodding curtly and striding past them.

[That went… well.] Page said. I rolled my eyes. I guess it went better than I expected, but I wouldn’t say “well”. I got the sense that Page was rolling their eyes at me, and I shrugged. From here on out I suppose if I’m going out for a walk in the town I should probably wear more unassuming tones. Though I probably should’ve done that from the start.

I changed, but spent the rest of the day in my room after I’d gotten some wood. I didn’t think it boded well for me to show my face too much in the city. I wonder if the soldiers would recognize me, I hoped that the helm at least obscured my facial features, but only time would tell…

The next day there was another knock on my door. That was sooner than I expected. I thought to myself, moving to open it. “Do you actually have a cipher?” The man blurted out as he saw me.

“I do…” I said. “Do you have parchment or are you going to try and memorize it?” I asked, jogging my memory of the cipher to mind. He handed me a parchment and a paper. “Great, won’t be long.” I said, shutting the door and walking over to the desk. I quickly wrote out the cipher, detailing how the numbers changed the form. I noted which variations hadn’t been used in this text, noting that they were extrapolations. Several minutes later I walked back to the door, passing it to the man.

“That’s… the cipher?” He asked, staring at it. “How…” He paused. “Here, this will be the next assignment. We have decided that it would be best if you left this inn, we have prepared a place for you closer to the target.” He said, handing me a rolled sheet. “The details will be on the parchment.”

“I hope you aren’t expecting the money back.” I said with a wry smirk.

“If this cipher works for the ledger you can keep it and more…” The man muttered, staring at the parchment he now carried. “I will see you at the location we have provided, try to be inconspicuous as you go to it. There are other elements that have an interest in what we do.”

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

I nodded, closing the door behind him. “There are other elements that have an interest in what we do.” I echoed, shaking my head. “Seriously…” I dressed the same as I had when I left, separating my armour into pieces that I could carry in a small pack, and putting the shaper inside of it. This is getting riskier and riskier… I thought to myself, slinging the pack over my shoulder.

I bid the innkeeper goodbye, thanking them for the room before heading to the street that had been written into the parchment. It took a while to find, and I looked like a tourist with how much I walked about looking at the signs. Eventually I came up to a small, wooden building. I knocked on the door, and it opened to reveal an older man with hair streaked by grey. He looked me up and down.

“Who sent you?” He asked, narrowed eyes peering into my own.

“He never gave me his name, I came on Cale’s recommendation however.” I replied. The man snorted, stepping away from the door to allow me entry.

“You’ll be in the room on the second floor, to the left.” He handed me a key. “Is that all your things?” He asked, staring over at my pack. “Most people bring more.”

“Travel light travel far.” I said. “You live on the road long enough you pick it up, if only through laziness.” I gave a smirk. “Left room on the second floor… Got it…” I said, walking up the stairs to the room. The door opened with a click, and I slid through the gap inside.

It was minimally furnished, a bed sitting in the corner alongside a wardrobe and a desk. I set down my pack besides my bed, looking about. Nice cage. I thought, only half joking. Well I’m certainly not bringing out the shaper here… I guess it’ll have to stay in my bag for a while… I thought. They were almost certainly trying to keep me under observation. Likely because of what I had claimed and the fact that I was more competent than they expected. Though the latter probably wasn’t too hard…

I pulled out my new assignment, spreading it onto the desk as I settled onto the chair. Well this is an interesting one… I thought to myself. It was a small storage building, settled a little out on the edge of the city. My target was a specific object, some kind of magical device.

I arched an eyebrow as I read out the description. A small globe of concentric circles with a triangular cross section, runes etched into each side. A rough sketch followed it. What… exactly am I doing for them? I thought to myself, frowning as I examined the sketch. Well… it sure doesn’t look like a weapon at least… I sighed. I’m really on edge aren’t I? Wonder what Cale’s doing for them.

[Perhaps the same as you are, though it seems likely that he would be doing something else.] Page said. [He seems ill suited for what we are performing.]

That’s fair. I thought back, stretching my arms over my head. So… I suppose we should case the area… I looked over to my clothes. I need to find a way to disguise myself. Ugh, never saw the point in makeup and disguises, if only I had been more of a kid at heart. I thought with a chuckle.

As it was I settled for making my clothing somewhat more rough and dishevelling my hair, though it was hard to replicate the used look that clothing would get after several years. I walked my way down to the building, keeping my steps confident and preventing my gaze from wandering too much. I couldn’t afford to stand out as a curious tourist now, especially if I was going to break into it in the near future.

Just passing it by on the road didn’t tell me much, it was on the whole absolutely unremarkable, featuring utilitarian design, small windows, large doors, all the hallmarks of any old storage building… Breaking into it would be a far greater chore than the previous one. Most of these buildings were made for security, and unlike the house it had no need to be discreet about it.

Well the sunlight certainly gives me a good idea of what the building is like, but I’ll need to come back later at night to check out their rotations… I thought to myself. From a cursory look it didn’t seem like there were any windows I’d be able to use unfortunately, the only windows were the size of a small cat, peppering the walls. And that door is out in the open…

Once night fell I settled in on the roof to one of the buildings with my pack, watching the patrols as snow began to lightly coat me. This is new… I thought to myself. But I suppose it’s long in coming. I brushed the snow from my face, changing my cloak to fit the new white colour that I was now surrounded by. I guess I could stuff my mouth full of snow to make myself harder to pick out, but I don’t really want to. Not motivated enough to emulate the White Death.

The cold definitely affected the patrol patterns, the patrols were more infrequent, sluggish. I didn’t blame them, if I wasn’t in my fairly closed up armour I’d be shivering. As I sat there I could make out someone on another of the buildings. They were kneeling on the roof instead of lying down as I was, and the snow fell around them, forming a visible silhouette where they were from moonlight.

I watched them warily, they had shown no signs of noticing me, but were they a sentry, or another spy? Swathed in darkness as they were I couldn’t make out their features. I frowned, now wasn’t the time, I came here to learn their patterns and schedules, couldn’t afford to be too distracted. I would glance over time to time, gently brushing the gathering snow from my face.

Eventually I caught movement from the corner of my eye as the person stood and turned into the night. Finally… I thought to myself. It had started to get rather late, and I wanted to return to the room to sleep. I waited several more minutes, before crawling away myself once I was confident they would not return.

I climbed in through the window, bringing out the shaper and letting the glow of nascent elementals light the room. Before I’d left I’d scattered bits of my armour before the door, in the dark it’d be nearly invisible. Now it’d been swept aside by the door. I frowned. I hate being right.